New funding opportunity – heart health screening
Minnesota's WISEWOMAN (SagePlus) program has been awarded funding for another 5-year cycle running from September 30, 2023 through September 29, 2028. The SagePlus Program addresses cardiovascular health outcomes in populations that experience the greatest health disparities. SagePlus engages with clinics and community partners to provide participants cardiovascular disease assessments, referrals for treatment, lifestyle change programing, and social needs and supports to address any barriers to achieving good heart health. This is available for women who are eligible for the Sage Program.
If you are interested in becoming a SagePlus provider and would love to learn more, please complete this quick contact survey and we will reach out to you in the near future. You can also find more information on the SagePlus Heart Health Screening Program webpage or email us with questions at health.sage@state.mn.us.
Billing updates
You may have noticed there are a lot of claims in WAIT status listed on the Sage remittance advice. This is because Sage is behind on entering forms to support those claims. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, this lag in data entry will continue. Until we can reprogram the remit to account for the data entry lag, please do not resend information for dates of service within 1.5 months of the remit date. Instead, please focus on the older dates of service. Also, when inquiring about claim status, please be sure you are working from the latest remittance advice prior to reaching out.
As a reminder, Sage has a timely filing limit of 120 days from the date of service. The date when forms are received is noted and considered by Sage, so the data entry lag does not adversely impact payment related to the timely filing requirement.
Please continue to contact the Sage Billing line at 651-201-5630 or health.sagebilling@state.mn.us with your billing questions.
Lake Superior Community Health Center’s shifting perspective – focusing more on population health
Lake Superior Community Health Center (LSCHC) is a Community Health Center offering comprehensive health services in Duluth, Minnesota, and the surrounding area. LSCHC has been providing care to rural residents for over 50 years and was brought on as the first grant partner with the Minnesota Colorectal Cancer Control Program in this grant cycle. LSCHC has focused efforts on implementing evidence-based interventions to increase screening rates for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer, with some major accomplishments.
Over the last three years, LSCHC has successfully increased patient awareness and community conversations concerning breast cancer screening but has not been able to replicate this success with colorectal cancer (CRC) focused work.
LSCHC has expanded their team to address emerging and imminent patient needs such as food insecurity, enabled staff to provide cancer education, and encouraged patients to screen for cancer as a part of this work.
As a result of the changes made at LSCHC, the team has shifted to a population health approach, focusing on the whole person and health of the community they serve. This shift has included a very successful food pantry program, ensuring their patients and the surrounding community have access to healthy food. The team is also working to implement a partnership with Exact Sciences by the end of the year, with the goal of utilizing their patient assistance program to get more cost-effective screening with Cologuard for the patient population living below 400% federal poverty level and reduce the frequency of annual screenings. Finally, the LSCHC team began an innovative long-term partnership with a university in the area (The College of St. Scholastica) to better identify and address quality improvement efforts for their healthcare services.
The partnership with The College of St. Scholastica has been embedded within the university program to operate as a multi-cycle quality improvement practicum for Doctor of Nurse Practitioner students. This work just began and will include clinical needs assessments and reviewing data on social determinants, population health, etc. for process improvement, with the goal of improving overall health and increasing cancer screening rates.
Minnesota Cancer Alliance Newsletter
Check out the latest events and updates from the Minnesota Cancer Alliance Newsletter.
Read below for answers to frequently asked questions from our clinic partners
Q: What does the Cancer Screening Quality Improvement (CSQI) Program do?
A: The CSQI Program (formally called the Systems Change Program and Scopes Program) provides grant funding to primary care clinics to help support the implementation of evidence-based interventions that have been demonstrated to increase breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening rates within their clinic population. The CSQI Program partners with clinics serving communities disproportionately burdened by cancer. The four EBIs that clinics can chose to implement are provider assessment and feedback, provider reminders, patient reminders and reducing structural barriers.
Q: Does the Sage Program cover screening colonoscopies?
A: No. The Sage Program only reimburses for breast and cervical cancer screening at all Sage clinics. The CSQI Program (formally called the Systems Change Program and Scopes) provides grant funding to eligible primary care clinics to help support the implementation of evidence-based interventions that have been demonstrated to increase breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening rates within their clinic population. The CSQI Program partners with clinics serving communities disproportionately burdened by cancer and can reimburse for some follow-up colonoscopies for their CSQI partner clinics depending on criteria outlined within the grant agreement.
For more information, contact Michelle Brasure, michelle.brasure@state.mn.us or Brianna Longeway, brianna.longeway@state.mn.us.
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